Students respond to CAP restructure proposal article
In the last few weeks some people at this university have lost sight of what is truly important at a place of higher education, academics.
In the article "Davenport Proposes New CAP Structure", it said that Davenport wants to move the College Access Program from being its own entity, to being divided among the six academic colleges.
CAP Director Tonya Phillips, said, "The bottom line is that he [Davenport] doesn't want to serve domestic diverse students on this campus" citing the recent loss of the vice president of diversity position and this new proposal as a "slap in the face."
This is clearly not true when one takes into account the fact that there will be a new dean of diversity, as well as the fact that he is not trying to get rid of CAP. All Davenport's new proposal calls for is that this university focuses on what is truly important, academics.
By distributing the CAP among the six academic colleges, the students will receive more pertinent information regarding which classes, organizations, or opportunities correspond to their major.
This transition might end up saving the university some money as well, by not having a separate location for the CAP. But mostly, this move is helping the university stay true to being a place of higher education, and not a place of higher segregation.
Elizabeth Schieler, Secondary Math Education
Does anyone else find it ironic that Tonya Phillips has filed a racial discrimination suit against the university, while at the same time advocating for racial discrimination in the hiring of a permanent dean of diversity?
Her comments in the February 2 issue of the Reporter seem to suggest that she feels a white person could never be qualified for the job and shouldn't even be considered.
Perhaps she needs to attend some diversity or sensitivity training so she can learn that sometimes white people get incarcerated, not all white people are scheming racists, and that white people can perform the diversity job just as well as any other candidate with relevant education and experience.
Kevin Thompson, Information & Technology Services
The death of the frat
Once upon a time there was Animal House, Beta House, and other frat houses across the nation that prided themselves upon their hand-crafted beer pong tables, raging themed parties, and prime drinking skills. In fact, there are still frat houses all across the United States.
Go to the east coast and you'll find beer pong being played in the front lawn; go to the south and you'll find a pledge being hazed to get into an "elite" society; and go to the west and you'll find an Animal House at almost every university. But is this the future of fraternal traditions hundreds of years old?
The answer seems pretty simple if one takes a look at the past two decades of Fraternity history. Since Animal House, there have been numerous alcohol-related deaths and injuries, hazing incidents, and other negative occurrences that were followed by high-priced lawsuits.
It wasn't the chapters (the local group of men at a single higher-education institution) that were being sued, but the national organizations (the over-arching headquarters of all chapters of a fraternity) that were taking million dollar hits. The national organizations started closing down chapters left and right in order to eliminate liability.
But what effect has this had at Minnesota State University, Mankato? As much as some of the Greek members still mess up from time to time, the Midwest is far ahead of the curve. They rake in more community service hours, raise more money for philanthropies, and have more fun with a fraction of the problems that fraternities across the nation suffer.
They've been proving that there is a new wave of 21st century fraternities. The frats of their peace-loving brothers of the 60s and disco-dancing brothers of the 70s are gone. Replaced by them are organizations that are getting back to their roots. Values, morals, academics, community service, brotherhood, honor, and loyalty are rebecoming the mainstays of Greek Life. It seems frats are being replaced by fraternities.
But without the crazy keggers what do fraternities do? Well at this campus Phi Delta Theta has had an alcohol-free house since 2001. As Siroos Abolahrari, a former president, said in an interview with the Mankato Free Press 8 years ago, "we're about matriculation and maturity, not Miller Lite and morning dry heaves". This welcomed sales pitch has summed up life in Phi Delta Theta for years. The brothers are back to the three cardinal principles of their founding fathers: friendship, moral rectitude, and sound learning. It's a change that all prefer to the atmosphere of Animal House.
This week, instead of throwing a raging party at the Phi Delta Theta house, the brothers are busily helping plan the ALS Walk so that it can go off without a hitch and raise more money than it did last year (over $40,000). They are also having brotherhoods at the WOWzone and MSU Bullpen, hosting a formal (prom-like dance) in the cities, organizing a Founder's Day (an event in which several hundred alumni come back to visit with their younger brothers), entertaining sororities during various social events, volunteering at half a dozen non-profit organizations, and helping to set the standard for fraternities everywhere.
Phi Delta Theta isn't the only Greek organization that is raising the bar. Each of the 6 other fraternities and 4 sororities have a philanthropy that they raise thousands of dollars a year for, volunteer hundreds of hours a semester, compete in Homecoming, have dozens of social events, and so much more. The ratio of events that are strictly non-alcoholic is upwards of 12:1 as compared to events where alcohol is permitted. They are all redefining what it means to be Greek and the college experience itself.
Frats may be dead, but the true spirit of the fraternity lives on and thrives. Brotherhood, leadership, scholarship, loyalty, honor, and moral rectitude are ideals that were in place before alcohol became such a heavy focus and are definitely still here as the focus shifts away from alcohol. These ideals are what unite thousands of brothers even though they may be separated by vast distances or numerous years. There's a reason a majority of our nation's top leaders were in a fraternity or sorority and it has nothing to do with the parties.
Brian McMahan, Public Relations, Phi Delta Theta Fraternity
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